At this stage, the number appliances requiring charging in our technological arsenal has become somewhat of an issue. So rather than visiting coffee shops and public libraries carrying arm loads of laptops, phones and camera chargers—we decided a power inverter was in order.

We already knew we would need some sort of storage/sleeping solution before we purchased any vehicle and in true flightless fashion decided to restrict planning to an absolute minimum. We already had a rough idea of what we wanted from seeing other setups, researching online and from having half built one for our old Hilux.

Our flight arrived into Anchorage shortly after midnight. As we had flown north it had become gradually lighter and lighter, so that by the time we were coming in to land we could see the rugged snowcapped peaks receding into the twilight. The excitement was building—we were finally arriving in Alaska.

The main reason we stopped for 10 days in Arizona was so that we could drive up to Flagstaff to attend Overland Expo 2014. For those who haven’t heard of Overland Expo (we hadn’t until we started planning this trip). It is a gathering of people who like to go adventuring in their vehicles. Whether those be 4WDs, motorbikes, or massive post-apocolyptic survival vehicles.

After three years of saving and planning (probably not quite enough of either) the day finally came to leave on our journey. In the weeks leading up to this it was time to say goodbye, to friends, family, pets, places and all things familiar.

So, where do you plan on going? Um. From Deadhorse, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina… At some point it becomes necessary to pad out the details between those two places. We feel that the time to do that will probably be when we are already on the road.

As you saw in Part One: Not winning the lottery we aren’t especially awesome at saving. But due to the fact that we have not as yet won the lottery it has proven to be the only way that we can afford a trip like the one we have planned. Saving money is far from being glamorous. It is actually rather dull. To be honest, we wouldn’t have done it if we hadn’t tricked ourselves into it. So here follows our Top 10 tips to trick yourself into saving:

Three years ago, our PanAmerican road trip was just an idea that we hadn’t really made any progress on planning for. But three years ago we were given a big kick in the pants by a devastating earthquake wreaking havoc on our previously peaceful home town. Many people lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods and had their lives irrevocably changed by the events on that day. The face of our city has forever changed as a result.